A group of participants in the Chris Jones campaign’s “Paddle for Clean Water” arrive at Birdland Park landing on Sept. 6, 2026. — Paul Brennan/Little Village

A new poll from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Liveable Future (CLF) asks about the importance of water quality to Iowa voters this year. The “Iowa Water Quality Survey” looks at more than how the issue may influence voting behavior this November, finding, among other things, that 26 percent of its respondents say there’s very little or no chance they’ll vote for a candidate who does not prioritize improving water quality. 

The survey of 800 likely voters was conducted from July 9 to 16, and published earlier this month. According to the pollsters, the survey has an overall margin of error of +/- 3.46 percentage points. 

As might be expected, the cost of living, including the price of groceries and housing, was the top issue for the 800 likely voters surveyed. “Drinking water quality and the environment” also scored highly, with 60 percent ranking it as one of their top five issues in deciding who to support in the November election. Drinking water quality and the environment finished higher than property taxes, immigration, abortion, crime or jobs for young people.

Drinking water quality and the environment was an important topic across the political spectrum, but there were differences by party affiliation. It was a top five issue for 78 percent of Democrats in the poll and 64 percent of independents, but only 41 percent of Republicans had it in their top five. Attitudes also varied by age. Majorities of those under 50 and 50-64 ranked it as top five — 73 and 55 percent, respectively — but for those 65 and older, it was a top issue for 48 percent. 

Eighty-five percent of those who consider water quality and the environment as a top five issue said they did so out of concerns over health and safety.

“[P]eople were bringing up these issues of nitrates in the water, high cancer rates,” even before the pollster could ask them about specific concerns, Dr. Patti Truant Anderson, CLF policy director, told Little Village. 

“I think there’s a high level of consciousness about these issues,” she said.

Eighty-five percent of respondents said they had heard or read about water quality issues in the news over the last 12 months, including 47 percent who said they had heard or read “a lot.”

CLF, based at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, is focused on researching the connections between agriculture, the environment and public health. The Iowa poll was undertaken as part of its Food Citizen project, which “gathers information about perceptions and attitudes toward food production.” As part of the poll, participants were also asked about their opinions of farming in the state.

A full 90 percent said they view “small and medium-sized independent farms” in Iowa favorably. The results for “large-scale corporate or industrial farming operations” were very different. Only 14 percent view them favorably, while 76 percent had an unfavorable opinion. 

The survey also asked participants about the water from their home taps. Sixty-three percent said they were concerned about the quality of the water in their homes, while 37 percent said they were not. Among the 800 poll respondents, 42 percent only drink tap water after filtering and another 13 percent filter before drinking several times a week. Thirty-seven percent, the same amount as those who said they had no concerns, never filter.

Kellan Doolittle/Little Village